A three-year quest to catch a bluefin tuna in UK waters finally ended for big-fish enthusiast Andy Griffith when he boated a 300lb specimen.

The angler, from Kent, hooked the big fish during a session aboard Andrew Alsop’s charter boat, White Water 2, out of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire. It took nearly an hour for Andy to land the fish, which he caught on a homemade deep-diving lure.

The fish, which was released, means Andy now holds four Welsh records following his grand slam of three different species of shark in a single day back in 2013, when he boated a 167lb blue shark, 235lb porbeagle and a 194lb shortfin mako.

“I have been after a bluefin since 2013 when a big specimen stripped my reel while shark fishing, so it’s fantastic to finally achieve it, and also to have four records to my name,” he said.

A three-year quest to catch a bluefin tuna in UK waters ended for big-fish enthusiast Andy Griffith when he boated this 300lb cracker.

The Kent angler hooked it during a session aboard Andrew Alsop’s ‘White Water 2’ out of Milford Haven in Wales. It took nearly an hour for Andy to land the rare fish, which he tempted on a homemade deep-diving lure.

The tuna, which was quickly unhooked before being released, means Andy now has four Welsh records to his name following his grand slam of three different shark species in a single day back in 2013. That was when he boated a 167lb blue shark followed by a 235lb porbeagle and a shortfin mako at 194lb.

Andy told Angling Times: “I have been after a bluefin since 2013, when one stripped my reel of line while I was shark fishing. It’s fantastic to finally achieve my ambition and have four records to my name, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Andrew, who predicted all these catches.”